Water Blog

Fix a Leak Week: March 19 though 25

Drip. Drip. Drip. The average American household wastes more than 10,000 gallons each year from easy-to-fix water leaks – that’s the amount of water needed to wash 270 loads of laundry!

Nearly 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted in U.S. homes each year from minor leaks. That’s why the City of Greeley Water department is participating in Fix a Leak Week to remind homeowners of the easy steps they can take to save water in their community now and for future generations.

From March 19 to 25, we encourage you to join us for Fix a Leak Week to improve the water efficiency of your home by finding and fixing leaks. Sponsored by EPA’s WaterSense® program, you can help save 10 thousand gallons of water and reduce your water utility bills by 10 percent, too!

Be for water and start saving today with three simple steps: Check, Twist and Replace.

Check - First, check your home for leaks. Are your faucets dripping? How about your sprinklers? An easy way to check your toilet for silent leaks is by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank. Wait ten minutes, then see if it appears in the bowl before you flush. If you have a family of four and your winter water use exceeds 12,000 gallons per month, you probably have a leak. Don’t forget to check irrigation systems and spigots, too!

Twist - Simply by twisting and tightening hose and pipe connections, you can fix many of your leaks all on your own! Grab a wrench and firmly twist any leaking faucets or showerheads. Apply pipe tape to be sure plumbing fixture connections are sealed tight. To save your household more than 500 gallons each year, add a WaterSense labeled aerator onto each bathroom faucet to save water without noticing a difference in flow.

Replace - If you just can’t nip that drip, replace the fixture with a WaterSense labeled model. Each model is independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well (or better) than standard models. Just by replacing the showerhead, you can save up to 2,700 gallons annually while still letting you shower with power!